uptake
Americannoun
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uptakes
plural
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apprehension; understanding or comprehension; mental grasp.
quick on the uptake.
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an act or instance of taking up; a lifting.
the uptake of fertilizer by machines.
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Also called take-up. Machinery. a pipe or passage leading upward from below, as for conducting smoke or a current of air.
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Physiology. absorption.
noun
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a pipe, shaft, etc, that is used to convey smoke or gases, esp one that connects a furnace to a chimney
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mining another term for upcast
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taking up or lifting up
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the act of accepting or taking up something on offer or available
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informal quick to understand or learn
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informal slow to understand or learn
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of uptake
Vocabulary lists containing uptake
The Water Cycle - Introductory
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Trials of the self-testing in London suggest it could lead to one in 10 women to come forward for screening – boosting uptake by around 400,000 a year.
From BBC ● Aug. 24, 2026
The study will run into 2028, testing two low doses of Wegovy, and follows the company disclosing recently that uptake of the pill had been particularly strong for its lowest doses across self-paying patients.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 24, 2026
Needham analyst Ryan MacDonald noted commentary from management indicating uptake of Doximity’s AI offerings.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 7, 2026
The costs this year would probably run into the hundreds of millions, the source said, adding that the exact figure was uncertain and depended on uptake.
From Barron's ● Jul. 29, 2026
Ned repeated, a little slow on the uptake.
From "Moon Over Manifest" by Clare Vanderpool
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"Basically, these are all just different systems of encapsulating your molecule so that the bodily more readily uptakes it," Boyar says.
From Salon ● Mar. 4, 2023
Tower Hamlets has seen one of the lowest uptakes of vaccines in the UK throughout the pandemic.
From BBC ● Apr. 6, 2022
Both Iberian countries have high vaccine uptakes, with close to 90% of people eligible for the jabs receiving them.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 7, 2021
Italy has one of the highest vaccine uptakes in the world with 80% of the population having received either one or two jabs, while around 15% of people have had a booster shot.
From Reuters ● Dec. 6, 2021
The uptakes by which the waste gases were conveyed to the funnels were united immediately above the water-tight bulkhead which separated the boiler rooms.
From Loss of the Steamship 'Titanic' by British Government
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.